Car-coupling



(No Model.)

0. O. FIELDS. GAR COUPLING.

No. 475,040; Patented May-17, 1892.

Unrrnn STATES PATENT @rrrcn,

CHARLES CLINTON FIELDS, OF NEW HAVEN, WVEST VIRGINIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,040, dated May 17,1892.

7 Application filed February 15, 1892. Serial No. 421,600. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES CLINTON FIELDS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New Haven, in the county of Mason and State ofWestVirginia, have invented certain use the same, reference being had tothe ac companying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

The design of myinvention is to provide an improved automaticcar-coupler which shall be thoroughly reliable in its action and at thesame time quite simple in construction, easy of operation, and capableof use in connection with cars equipped with the common pin-andlinkcoupler.

To these ends the invention consists in the improved car-couplerconstructed and operating as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section showing two of mycouplers connected together. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of thecoupling-hook and a portion of the draw-bar, separated; and Fig. 3 is aperspective View showing my device for using the coupler in connectionwith the ordinary pin-and-link coupler.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates my coupling-hook, pivoted to the draw-bar B in the mannerhereinafter described and having at its front end an arrow-shaped headto, whose rear walls a, are considerably undercut or inwardlyinclined,so thatwhen engaged by the corresponding portion of anadjoining coupling-hook there will be no liability of accidentalseparation. The hook at its rear end has an enlargement 0, whose frontwall inclines downward and forward, and constituting, with the adjacentunder side of the body portion of the hook, a shape similar to the heada. Thus constructed when two cars are brought together the head of thehook that happens to engage the other hook so as to raise and pass underagainst said enlargement, as shown in dotted lines, "and transmit theshock to a coiled bufthe same will abut fer-spring provided, as isusual, in the rear of the draw-bar B. By providing the abutting surfacesas described there is no liability of injuring or breaking the hook,such as would exist were the abutting surface an abrupt one,because theblow upon the head is not at its point, but upon its upper and lowersides.

The upper side of the hook A, over and partly in the enlargement 0, butnot extending entirely down through the same, is provided with a recess0, into which a reduced portion 1) of the draw-bar B extends. A pin D,passing through this extension and through the adjacent sides of thehook A,pivotally secures the latter to the draw-bar. By not cutting therecess 0 down entirely through the enlargement O a shoulder or abutmentc is left to engage the draw-bar end and thus prevent the hook A fromfalling below a horizontal plane, although the same is capable of freeand easy upward movement, either to allow the hooks to pass by eachother, as when coupling, or to permit the raising of the upper onetouncouple by disengaging their arrowheads.

For the purpose of uncoupling fromaplace of safety an eye (1 is attachedto the hook at or near its front end,to which a chain or cord may beattached and passed for manipulation either to the top or side of thecar where boxcars are used; or, if the coupler is applied toplatform-cars, to a convenient point on the platform. If desired, othermeans may be employed stood that I do not limit myself to thosementioned.

The draw-bar Bis placed between blocks or pieces on the under side ofthe car, being attached thereto by bolts E, which pass through a slot17' or slots therein and through said to raise the hook, it beingunderblocks, which permits such longitudinal movement of the draw-bar asmay be necessary in consequence of the impact of an adjoining car.

To adapt my nary device for use with the ordipin-and-link coupler, Ihave provided a link F, having a horizontal member f, designed to enterthe ordinary draw-head and having an opening f for the passage of thecoupling pin, and two diverging members f j" to engage the upper andlower sides, respectively, of the arrow-head a and having openings in.ler for satisfactory use line with each other by means of which saidlink may be connected to the head through the instrumentality of a ping, which also passes through a vertical opening provided in i said head.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my coupler is quitesimple in construction; that the coupling of the hooks is bound to beeffected although there maybe a difference in the height of the twocars, as it is immaterial whether one arrow-head or the other is on top;that means are provided to 1 prevent damage to a head by its impactagainst a hook of an opposite car, and that the novel link which I haveprovided adapts my coup- With cars provided with the ordinarypin-and-link coupling.

Having thus described myinvention, what 1 claim to be new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A car-coupler consisting of a pivoted hook arrow-shaped head andhaving in having an the rear of said head an abutting surface for asimilarly-shaped head conforming in shape thereto, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of a coupling-hook having an arrow-shaped head at itsfront end and an enlargement at its rear end with an inclined front sidethat forms with the. adjacent surface of the hook an impact surface forthe simi- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

' CHARLES CLINTON FIELDS. Witnesses:

G. L. BUSH, SAM. J. CAPEHART.

the draw-bar having a re-

